Henry
Tuilagi

Henry Tuilagi is one of Samoa’s most famous rugby stars. Discover everything about his life and career with RugbyPass, your resident rugby gurus.

Henry Tuilagi Bio

Henry Tuilagi is one of the strongest athletes in history. Known for his size and power, he’s a giant of Samoan rugby and one of the greatest players to ever feature for the Manu Samoa national side.

Born on 12 August 1976, Henry Tuilagi played for a number of rugby’s greatest sides during his professional career. Before his retirement in 2015, he featured for USA Perpignan and Leicester Tigers. In addition, for a year in 2002, he also featured for Parma in the Top 10. He also briefly represented Samoa in rugby league in 1999.

Throughout his career, Henry Tuilagi was noted for his size, strength and tenaciousness. At his peak, it’s said that he could powerlift 250kg (551lb) for several reps. This gave him a fierce reputation among his peers and James Haskell once remarked that “He would absolutely kill people, and he'd do it with a smile on his face, and would repeatedly do it.”

One of the great disappointments of Henry Tuilagi’s career is that he did not play often enough on the international stage. Despite his skill and prowess, he only featured 10 times for Samoa throughout his career because he was often blighted by injuries. However, he’s widely regarded as a hero at Leicester, where he made 46 appearances over five years and he’s loved at Perpignan, where he appeared almost 140 times.

All of Henry Tuilagi’s brothers also played rugby. While most of the brothers represented Samoa, his younger brother Manu chose to represent England and still plays regularly for the national team today.